Canon G5 Anyone?

[Jonathan Schmidt]

I just purchased one over Christmas in anticipation of the arival of our first child. I'm wondering if anyone else out there has had any experience with the G5? So far, I've seen only posts for other models. What have you liked? What have you disliked? I'm interested in seeing what other people think relative, perhaps, to other cameras they have used.

[Jason Dunn]

I had a Canon G3, which is similar to the G5, and while I liked the image quality, I didn't like the shutter lag - it just took too long to take the picture. You can compensate for this by pressing down halfway on the shutter button before you take the picture and holding it there while you wait for the right moment...

[Jonathan Schmidt]

Interesting problem. I have noticed on occasion that the G5 doesn't seem to want to focus, which delays shutter release, but it appears to be limited to low-light situations.

One of the things that I liked about the G5 (I had an S20 previously) is its speed. In continuous mode, you can take continuous shots at a rate of 2/second. Not super-fast by any stretch, but well beyond my needs.

In your post, you said that you had a G3. Does that mean that you don't have it any longer? What's your poison currently?

[Gary Sheynkman]

the G5 is an amazing camera that will take some getting used to since it is full of features

[backpackerx]

I've used one for about an hour and really liked it. Most Canon stuff won't dissapoint. I didn't get to check the pictures on a computer but I'm sure with canon's legacy of high quality optics that they are great.

[Jason Dunn]

In your post, you said that you had a G3. Does that mean that you don't have it any longer? What's your poison currently?

Yup, sold it on eBay. I use a Digital Rebel now. :D

[Suhit Gupta]

My favorite features on the G5 is the voice annotation and the ridiculously awesome battery life compared to the others in its category.

Suhit

[Jonathan Schmidt]

You said it! I have used it for all-day events and have never run out of juice! It is definitely incredible in that category!

I don't know about you, but I use CompactFlash Ultra memory and I think that uses even less memory than the average CF card...

My favorite features on the G5 is the voice annotation and the ridiculously awesome battery life compared to the others in its category.

Suhit

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Less memory? Less power, you mean? Nah, they roughly draw the same amount of power. It's only when you use a microdrive do you then start to worry about it.

[Jason Dunn]

I don't know about you, but I use CompactFlash Ultra memory and I think that uses even less memory than the average CF card...

I assume you meant power, right? ;-) I never heard of them using less power - where did you read that? I think all CF cards that are 3.3 volt use the same amount of power.

[Jonathan Schmidt]

Ooops... :oops: Yes, I meant power. Sorry about that.

I'm sure you are right that they use the same amount of power in a given period of time. However, I read somewhere that because they are faster, the card is actually active for less time during a load/save operation. That means that you will get more shots per charge with a higher-performance CF card. Makes sense to me.

I assume you meant power, right? ;-) I never heard of them using less power - where did you read that? I think all CF cards that are 3.3 volt use the same amount of power.

[backpackerx]

Hmmm.. that does make some sense. It seems like it would take a while for that to add up to much power savings but if it's a reason to justify a faster card, I'm in! :D

[Jason Dunn]

I'm sure you are right that they use the same amount of power in a given period of time. However, I read somewhere that because they are faster, the card is actually active for less time during a load/save operation. That means that you will get more shots per charge with a higher-performance CF card. Makes sense to me.

Hmm - right you are! Although I'm not convinced it would add up to much in the way of power savings to be honest - the real battery drain on a digital camera is the flash and LCD screen for previews, not writing to a CF card.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

I poked around Imaging Resource a bit, and from the few cameras I checked, the CF writing doesn't draw up that much power. Roughly on par when the LCD is used.

[Jonathan Schmidt]

I agree... hard to say how much of a difference it makes. It would be nice if the card manufacturers would publish some benchmarks in that area. If it is really significant, it might help sell higher-performing CF cards. But then again, if they haven't done it already... (suspicious) maybe it's because there really isn't a big difference, which would potentially hurt sales! A ha! :idea: I think I could be on to something! ;)

Hmm - right you are! Although I'm not convinced it would add up to much in the way of power savings to be honest - the real battery drain on a digital camera is the flash and LCD screen for previews, not writing to a CF card.

[Suhit Gupta]

I poked around Imaging Resource a bit, and from the few cameras I checked, the CF writing doesn't draw up that much power. Roughly on par when the LCD is used.
Is this with regular CF cards or even with high-speed CF cards?

Suhit

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Hmm, does it matter?

[Suhit Gupta]

Hmm, does it matter?
Well sort of. Since you were saying that the CF usage is roughly at par with LCD usage, I was wondering if that changes when high-speed CF cards are used, perhaps they draw more power. And if they do, then because is that offset by the fact that they are doing so for a shorter amount of time. I just wanted to know if there were stats on this. :?

Suhit

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Nah, don't think so. If they varied too widely I think you'd get stories of toasted CF cards.